Split-second decision perfected

Oct. 17, 2013

Updated 2:48 p.m.

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Quarterback Daniel Thomsen of Westminster has thrived this season on coach Ted McMillen's read-offense, averaging 7 yards per carry and rushing for 930 yards in six games. ANIBAL ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Westminster quarterback Daniel Thomsen carries the ball in for a touchdown against Marina on Sep. 13. JEFF ANTENORE, FOR THE REGISTER

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Westminster's Humberto Maciel has been the other side of the Lions read-offense threat, he's averaged 7.3 yards per carry this season for a total of 726 yards and seven touchdowns. MICHAEL LOPEZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Quarterback Daniel Thomsen of Westminster has thrived this season on coach Ted McMillen's read-offense, averaging 7 yards per carry and rushing for 930 yards in six games.ANIBAL ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Double-edged sword

Westminster Lions offense:

Daniel Thomsen, QB

133 carries

931 total yards

11 touchdowns

Humberto Maciel, RB

99 carries

726 yards

7 touchdowns

Westminster High football coach Ted McMillen recognized early his team’s strength was its running game in quarterback Daniel Thomsen and running back Humberto Maciel. And what better way to make two strong runners more effective then to make opponents’ guess which one is going to get the ball?

So he established an offense based on Thomsen’s ability to read how the play was developing, and had them practice hundreds of repetitions. Thousands of repetitions. Thomsen practiced the read option again and again – in summer camp, in practices, even in passing leagues when most teams practice, well, passing.

When they began running through plays last spring, it was almost laughable how much time they spent on practicing that split-second decision – who’d run, Thomsen or Maciel. McMillen estimates Thomsen would end up getting 50 to 60 reps, in one practice.

“We practiced it more than enough, too many times for it to not work,” said Maciel, with a smile. “But I mean it’s paid off.”

Indeed it has. The Lions (3-3, 1-0) who compete in the Golden West League have continually been able to use Thomsen’s decision-making ability, Maciel’s speed and occasionally a no-huddle offense to keep defenders from getting too comfortable.

“We do obviously have some plays that are designed to go to Humberto (Maciel), but I would say we have two-thirds of our plays are read plays,” McMillen said. “We don’t know which one is going to get it, and that’s the structure of our offense.”

So far, Thomsen has had more carries, but beyond that, the pair’s stats are pretty similarly impressive. Thomsen’s hard work over the summer definitely has shown; he’s rushed for 926 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first six games, averaging 7 yards a carry.

“He’s just a good athlete and he’s very coachable,” McMillen said. “He doesn’t make the perfect read all the time, but we’ve practiced all the way up through spring practice. He’s a good player, he’s a good athlete and he knows that to get better you’ve got to practice.”

Maciel, not far behind, has amassed 726 rushing yards at 7.3 yards a carry. So it’s no surprise that Thomsen doesn’t think twice about dishing the ball off to his running back when he feels the defense closing in.

“It’s like the greatest feeling as a quarterback in general, and as a running quarterback, knowing there’s somebody that athletic and that blessed with that talent to be able to carry that load,” Thomsen said.

Given all the work in the offseason, it only took two games for everything to click offensively, Maciel says. He maintains that the Lions’ 42-38 last-second win over Marina on Sept. 13 stands out as the game that highlights the success the team is capable of. In that win, he rushed for 228 yards, and Thomsen ran for 270.

“Every time I ran the ball or he kept the ball it was just perfect,” Maciel said. “The line was blocking and the holes were just there.”

Thomsen admits that opponents have come to expect the Lions to keep the ball on the ground. Initially, passing was a concern for Thomsen who played receiver last season when Steven Anderson earned the starting quarterback spot. But that’s starting to change.

At the very least McMillen, in his 17th season coaching Westminster’s football team, sounds pretty confident in his gritty squad. It helps that they have a handful of leaders like Thomsen who will continue to work on whatever areas they need to improve, again and again.

“I think that the quality this team has, they’re pretty no no-nonsense …(a) ’Bring your lunch pail’ kind of team,’” he said. “They have a very good work ethic, they just grind it out.”

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